Twice as many people in Lithuania volunteer for papal visit

Over 1,700 people expressed their wish by the middle of July to volunteer during the upcoming papal visit to Lithuania, which is almost double than the organizers need.

Volunteer's coordinator in Vilnius Kamilė Janulytė told BNS Lithuania that the number of applications exceed expectations as only 1,000 volunteers would be needed.

"We have launched the selection of volunteers, and we won’t need all 1,700 people definitely as we won’t have so much work, and it's not good when a volunteer has nothing to do," she told BNS Lithuania.

Živilė Šeporaitytė, communication coordinator at the Curia of the Vilnius Archdiocese, says people who will not be selected for the volunteer team will be asked to engage in activity of their local parishes.

Pope Francis is set to come to Lithuania on Sep. 23-24 and visit Vilnius and Kaunas. He will also meet with President Dalia Grybauskaitė and members of the public.